Archives for November 2006

In October, the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration raised this year’s target for permanent residents. As Canadian birth rates decline and the economy grows, this upward trend has reached levels not seen in decades.

Canada increased its target for 2007—defined in ranges rather than set figures—to between 240 000 and 265 000, up from 225 000 to 250 000 this year. After several years of increases, the target has reached a level not seen since the early 1970’s. Mr. Solberg said that the increase would bring in the needed human capital to fill “extraordinary labour market requirements”.

The category seeing the greatest increase is skilled workers, who accounted for half of the total new arrivals last year. This group, along with other economic class workers, will account for nearly the entire expansion expected in 2007. The number of parents and grandparents targeted has been frozen at between 18 000 and 19 000 as immigration is prioritized to meet pressing labour demands.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada also announced in its report to parliament that Canada is on pace to achieve the high end of this year’s target range. These targets have been exceeded however in the past, as the 2005 range was exceeded by over 15 000.

Taking a look at recent trends in the makeup of this inflow, the largest proportion of Canadian immigrants in 2005 came from China, followed by India, the Philippines, Pakistan and the United States. Slightly over half of those who arrived in 2005 were native English speakers, while the proportion of immigrants who spoke French as their native language declined to just fewer than 5% in 2005. Ontario remained the most popular destination for settlement, attracting over half of new permanent residents.

As businesses in Western Canada continue to experience shortages of labour, the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced changes to make it easier for companies to hire foreign workers.

The main change announced to the federal program for temporary foreign workers is to create regional lists of occupations in high demand—for example 170 jobs in Alberta and 129 in British Columbia. Saskatchewan is also in the process of developing a similar list. The lists include a wide range of employment, from tradespeople to professionals. The program aims to reduce the length of the process by over 25%.

While Ontario was not mentioned in this announcement, Minister Solberg addressed questions about the province’s absence in a letter to the Toronto Star. In the letter he pointed out that under ongoing negotiations for the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Immigration, included is a section to allow similar entry conditions for temporary foreign workers. He also noted continued development of a provincial nominee program for Ontario.

Advertising

When looking to hire a foreign worker in these high priority occupations, employers will not need to advertise as extensively for the position domestically.

To meet the new requirements for the listed positions, employers have to:

A. Advertise on the Government of Canada’s national Job Bank (or the equivalent in Saskatchewan, Quebec, or the Northwest Territories) for a minimum of 7 calendar days;

or

B. Demonstrate that they have established on-going recruitment mechanisms already in place (e.g., using recognized job internet sites, unions, professional associations, corporate website, professional journals, newspapers, newsletters).

*Note: For positions classified as skill level C (intermediate occupations) or D (labouring and elemental occupations) employers will have to satisfy both A and B.

Other Measures

Employers still have to fulfill all other requirements of the temporary foreign worker program. However, announced alongside the changes to advertising regulations were two other initiatives to improve information and communication.

The first of these measures will ensure employers are better informed about the process. Citizenship and Immigration Canada will be publishing a step-by-step guide written specifically to assist employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers.

The federal government will also be consulting with its provincial counterparts to seek out other means to improve the immigration process. Minister Solberg announced the creation of federal-provincial working groups to identify areas of demand alongside new solutions to ensure needs are met.

Many industry leaders hailed the move. “This change will allow the immigration system to respond better to the business community’s needs,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The construction industry in particular has been particularly welcoming, feeling the effects of long-term labour shortages.

The Lists

Found here is list of occupations covered under the changes to the regulations. The list for Saskatchewan has yet to be finalized. While there is a great deal of overlap, differences between the lists reflect unique regional labour market needs.

A bill working its way through the Ontario legislature targets professional occupations in an aim to help professionals who immigrate to fully integrate into the economy.

After passing its second reading in the parliament of Ontario, Bill 124 – titled the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act – will now be discussed in committees before a final reading later this year. The proposed law lists 34 professions whose entry is regulated by an association, including engineering, medicine and accounting. If passed, the bill will create provincial standards for recognizing foreign credentials and for transparency in the registration process.

Also included in the bill are some institutional measures intended to improve the process. A new office called the Access Centre for Internationally Trained Individuals would provide one-stop shopping for a range of services for the licensing/registration process as well as for employers, post-secondary institutions, community agencies, internships and mentorships. The proposed law would also see a Fairness Commissioner appointed to oversee auditing and compliance with the legislation.

If an individual is found not to be treating immigrant professionals fairly they can be fined up to $50 000. Corporations and Associations can face up to $100 000 in penalties. Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle, speaking at a public forum about the bill, said that by improving the process “we’ll have a gain for the foreign-trained individuals but also for all the communities that need engineers, doctors, nurses”.

According to the Conference Board of Canada, failure to recognize foreign skills and credentials costs the Canadian economy up to $5 billion a year. Ontario is the leading recipient of immigration to Canada, with approximately 140 000 new arrivals annually. This legislation aims to simultaneously address inequalities in the system while helping to fill shortages of professionals in the Canadian economy

There are more than 200,000 undocumented individuals, more commonly known as illegal immigrants, currently residing in Canada.

Most have integrated in Canadian society and contribute to our economy by working at jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. The problem is that they did not play by the rules in getting to Canada or if they did enter legally, they have since overstayed the date by which they should have left.